Persona (2018)
TV show · 2018 · Crime, Drama, Mystery · TR
Curator score: 5.3/10 (57K ratings)
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a retired judicial officer decides to commit a murder that he had been planning for years.
Ratings:
- Curator score: 5.3/10
- IMDb: 8.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
- TMDB: 8.1/10
Created by: Onur Saylak
Production: Ay Yapım
Cast: Haluk Bilginer, Erdal Özyağcılar, Şebnem Bozoklu, İlker Aksum, Recep Usta
Curator Review
Verdict: A sharp, unsettling Turkish crime drama with a high-concept premise, strong lead performance, and a slow-burn moral puzzle at its center. It is best treated as a prestige revenge thriller with psychological weight rather than a conventional procedural.
Best for: Viewers who like dark, character-driven crime dramas; Fans of morally ambiguous antiheroes and revenge stories; People interested in international prestige TV with a psychological edge; Audiences comfortable with a tense, sometimes bleak tone
Skip if: You want a light, fast-moving crime show; You prefer straightforward mysteries with tidy answers; You are sensitive to bleak subject matter involving illness and violence; You mainly watch for ensemble banter or procedural case-of-the-week structure
Overview: Persona is built around a strikingly grim premise: a retired judicial officer, newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, decides to carry out a murder he has long planned. That setup gives the series an immediate hook, but the real draw is the way it turns memory loss, guilt, and revenge into a moral labyrinth. The show plays less like a conventional whodunit and more like a psychological reckoning, with the lead performance doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Worth noting: What makes it work is the tension between its high-concept thriller mechanics and its intimate, character-first writing. The series leans into dread, regret, and the instability of identity, which gives it a distinctive mood even within a crowded crime-drama field. It is not especially breezy, and its pleasures are cumulative rather than explosive, but that seriousness is part of the appeal.
Bottom line: If you like your crime dramas to feel adult, severe, and emotionally thorny, this is an easy recommendation. The show’s appeal is strongest for viewers who enjoy watching a damaged protagonist navigate a plan that is both methodical and self-destructive. It is less about twists for their own sake than about the cost of obsession and the collapse of certainty.
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Topics: psychological thriller, revenge drama, crime mystery, moral ambiguity, dark tone, prestige drama, slow burn, memory loss, international TV, character study
https://watchlist.tannermartz.com/apple/tv-show/persona/77994
Persona (2018)
TV show · 2018 · Crime, Drama, Mystery · TR
Curator score: 5.3/10 (57K ratings)
Overview After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a retired judicial officer decides to commit a murder that he had been planning for years.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.3/10
IMDb: 8.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
TMDB: 8.1/10
Cast Haluk Bilginer, Erdal Özyağcılar, Şebnem Bozoklu, İlker Aksum, Recep Usta
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, unsettling Turkish crime drama with a high-concept premise, strong lead performance, and a slow-burn moral puzzle at its center. It is best treated as a prestige revenge thriller with psychological weight rather than a conventional procedural.
Best for
Viewers who like dark, character-driven crime dramas
Fans of morally ambiguous antiheroes and revenge stories
People interested in international prestige TV with a psychological edge
Audiences comfortable with a tense, sometimes bleak tone
Skip if
You want a light, fast-moving crime show
You prefer straightforward mysteries with tidy answers
You are sensitive to bleak subject matter involving illness and violence
You mainly watch for ensemble banter or procedural case-of-the-week structure
Overview
Persona is built around a strikingly grim premise: a retired judicial officer, newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, decides to carry out a murder he has long planned. That setup gives the series an immediate hook, but the real draw is the way it turns memory loss, guilt, and revenge into a moral labyrinth. The show plays less like a conventional whodunit and more like a psychological reckoning, with the lead performance doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the tension between its high-concept thriller mechanics and its intimate, character-first writing. The series leans into dread, regret, and the instability of identity, which gives it a distinctive mood even within a crowded crime-drama field. It is not especially breezy, and its pleasures are cumulative rather than explosive, but that seriousness is part of the appeal.
Bottom line
If you like your crime dramas to feel adult, severe, and emotionally thorny, this is an easy recommendation. The show’s appeal is strongest for viewers who enjoy watching a damaged protagonist navigate a plan that is both methodical and self-destructive. It is less about twists for their own sake than about the cost of obsession and the collapse of certainty.
Recommended similar titles
2016 · Curator 9.0/10 (194.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Pure Flix, Max
A grim, character-driven crime drama that turns a single premise into a slow, morally complicated descent.
2013 · Curator 5.8/10 (40.1K ratings) · Where to watch: Hulu
Moody, adult mystery drama with a strong sense of place and a similarly unsettling emotional texture.
2021 · Curator 9.3/10 (221.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Max
A prestige crime drama that balances investigation with personal damage, grief, and community pressure.
2017 · Curator 8.3/10 (152.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
A dark, psychology-forward mystery series where the crime is only the beginning of the real story.
2014 · Curator 9.3/10 (755.3K ratings) · Where to watch: TNT, Max
Best for its first season and other standout chapters: bleak atmosphere, damaged characters, and philosophical crime storytelling.
2018 · Curator 8.0/10 (138.2K ratings) · Where to watch: Max
A limited-series mood piece about trauma, memory, and buried violence with a similarly oppressive atmosphere.
2020 · Curator 3.9/10 (81.2K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Spectrum On Demand
A morally compromised legal figure under pressure, with escalating consequences and a strong sense of fatalism.
2020 · Curator 4.9/10 (117.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Max
A glossy but tense psychological mystery built around suspicion, privilege, and unraveling certainty.
2015 · Curator 5.7/10 (19.5K ratings) · Where to watch: Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Spectrum On Demand
A patient, intelligent prestige thriller with a similar commitment to tension, character, and procedural realism.
2019 · Curator 8.8/10 (137K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
A serious, empathetic crime drama that treats trauma and investigation with restraint and intelligence.
2014 · Curator 7.1/10 (32.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Starz, Philo, Spectrum On Demand
A suspenseful, emotionally bruising mystery with layered timelines and a strong sense of loss.
Topics
psychological thriller, revenge drama, crime mystery, moral ambiguity, dark tone, prestige drama, slow burn, memory loss, international TV, character study
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